The Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) has changed the lives of television (TV) viewers by allowing viewers to time-shift TV programs to match their lifestyles. Using the VCR, the viewer stores programs onto magnetic tape; this can then be played back at the viewer's convenience. The VCR gives the viewer the ability to pause the program playback whenever he desires, fast-forward through unwanted program material or commercials, and to replay favorite scenes. However, a VCR cannot both capture and play back information at the same time.
The use of a digital computer system to solve this problem has been suggested. U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,551 issued to Logan et al., on Dec. 6, 1994, teaches a method for concurrent video recording and playback. It presents a microprocessor-controlled broadcast and playback device. However, the approach requires that the microprocessor and hard disk must be very fast in order to keep up with high video rates found in television transmission.
The use of a multimedia time-warping system to solve this problem has been suggested. U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,389 issued to Barton et al. on May 15, 2001 teaches such a system, which utilizes the approach that decouples the microprocessor from the high video data rates, thereby reducing the microprocessor and system requirements, which are at a premium. The common name employed in the art to describe such a multimedia time-warping system is Digital Video Recorder (DVR). DVR systems typically provide the ability to navigate through content which has been stored or cached. Such navigation may include, for example, fast forwarding or reversing through a stored program.
Heretofore, in order to find a particular scene of a recorded program using a DVR-type device, a user would have to manually navigate through the entire presentation using fast forward, rewind, etc. However, this can be both tedious and time consuming. Thus, what is needed is an improved method and apparatus for navigating to particular scenes or portions of recorded or cached video content.